Payouts

ElevenLabs is required by U.S. tax law to collect W-8/W-9 certification from anyone who receives payments from us. If you’re a U.S. tax resident, you’re required to submit W-9 certification. If you’re not a U.S. tax resident, you’re required to submit W-8 certification.

W-8/W-9 certification helps determine whether a reduced rate of tax withholding under a tax treaty applies to your payments.

The form is processed via Stripe, which walks you through the steps. We also have a detailed guide available here.

By default, the U.S. requires a 30% withholding tax on certain types of payments to non-U.S. persons — including royalties. However, if your country has a tax treaty with the U.S., you may be eligible for a reduced withholding rate, which you can claim on the W-8 form. If you do not claim a treaty benefit, the 30% default rate applies.

We will withhold U.S. taxes on earnings from U.S. customer usage only (not your entire payout). Earnings from non-U.S. customer usage will not be included in withholdings.

Your payout dashboard will now include a column showing tax withheld for each past payout.

Each year, we will issue a Form 1042-S showing the total amount we paid you and any U.S. tax we withheld. This form is sent by March 15 of the following calendar year and can be used when filing a U.S. tax return, if needed.

Because the income you’re earning is U.S.-sourced (we are a U.S.-based company), we’re required to apply U.S. tax rules. You may still be able to claim a credit or deduction in your own country for the tax paid to the U.S., depending on your local laws.

No — if you’re receiving payments from us and you’re not a U.S. tax resident, we are still required to collect this form to properly apply U.S. tax rules. If we don’t receive a completed W-8, we may not be able to pay you or may have to apply maximum withholding (30%).

Stripe may also help you identify treaty eligibility as you complete the form, but you are responsible for verifying that you meet the conditions via the IRS website or a tax professional. 

If you don’t submit a completed W-8 form, we may be required to withhold the full 30% of your earnings from US customer usage until the form is received.

Voice Actor Payouts let you earn cash rewards when paid users generate audio with your Professional Voice Clone shared in the Voice Library. Earnings are calculated based on usage by paid users and exclude use by free users. Your default rate is determined by your selected notice period, and payouts are processed automatically through Stripe.

• To get started, create a Professional Voice Clone of your voice. This feature is available on the Creator plan and above. We recommend uploading around 2 hours of clear, high-quality recordings containing only your voice, with consistent tone and no background noise, music, or effects. For detailed guidance, see our Professional Voice Cloning guide.
• After uploading your samples, you’ll complete a Voice Captcha verification by reading a short text prompt within a set timeframe. Once verified, your voice will be added to the training queue. The process typically takes a few hours but may take longer at peak times.
• Once training is complete, you can share your voice in the Voice Library. After a brief review by our team, your voice will become visible to other users who can save and use it to generate audio.
• You can choose how long your voice remains available after you decide to withdraw it by setting a notice period. This ranges from immediate removal up to a two-year period. This flexibility lets you balance earning potential with personal preference while giving other users clarity on when they’ll need to transition away from your voice.
• You can enable live moderation for your voice to prevent it from being used in restricted or sensitive content categories.
• Your default payout rate is determined by the notice period you select for your voice.
• To receive payments, you’ll need to set up a Stripe Connect account and maintain an active paid subscription (Starter plan or above). Payouts are processed automatically every 6–8 days once your earnings exceed the minimum threshold. In most cases, the threshold is $10, though some countries may have higher limits due to local regulations or payment provider requirements.

For more information, refer to our Terms of Service and Voice Library Addendum.

There are a couple of possible reasons why Payouts are not enabled for your account.

Payouts won’t be enabled for your account until you have completed the process of setting up your Payout account, including agreeing to the Terms.

To complete the process, please visit your Payouts page, and click Complete Account Setup, and follow the steps. 

If you still see Complete Account Setup after completing all the steps, please contact Support by emailing team@elevenlabs.io.

ElevenLabs is required by U.S. tax law to collect W-8/W-9 certification from anyone who receives payments from us and is not a U.S. tax resident. For more information on this, please see our article What is W-8/W-9 certification?

Payouts will be disabled for any user who does not have a valid tax form. To resume Payouts, please visit your Payouts page and click Manage Account.

You will then see Missing W-8/W-9 certification. To complete your certification, click Update and answer the questions in the form.

We are constantly working to expand our reach for our Voice Actor Payouts. Currently, this is the list that Stripe supports. As they add more countries to their allowed counties available for payouts, so will we.

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong SAR China
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mexico
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Norway
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• Taiwan
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay
• Vietnam
  
  

The W-8/W-9 certification will be requested when your first payout is processed. At this point, you will be notified that you need to complete the certification before you can receive your payouts.

To do this, click My Account and select Payouts to go to your Payouts page. Then click Manage Account.

You will see a section for W-8/W-9 certification, which will be marked Incomplete. Click Update to open the form

Answer the questions on screen. The first question, “Are you considered a U.S. person for Federal Tax Purpose?”, will determine whether you complete Form W-9 or Form W-8.

If yes, you will be prompted to complete Form W-9:

If no, you will be prompted to complete Form W-8:

Payouts are issued from the country of your Stripe connected account. If your external bank account is in the same country and currency, the payout typically appears as a domestic transfer. If your bank is in a different country or you’re paid in a different currency (for example, via alternative currency payouts), it may appear as an international transfer.

To gauge what to expect, compare the connected account’s country and currency with your external bank account’s country and currency—when they match, expect domestic; when they don’t, expect international.